


Derailed

by violetmessages



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Meet-Cute, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Trains, set in the 90's
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:41:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25853776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violetmessages/pseuds/violetmessages
Summary: The year is 1995 and Ianto is about to spend two weeks sightseeing Europe with his best mate. It’s a far cry from his original spring holiday plan of sitting in his room, studying, secretly getting high, and avoiding his drunkard father. His only goal is to have as much fun as he possibly can and ignore all his problems.It's too bad that an infuriatingly handsome friend of a friend won't leave his mind long enough for that to happen.
Relationships: Gwen Cooper & Ianto Jones, Gwen Cooper/Rhys Williams, Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Comments: 67
Kudos: 76





	1. London I

It is six in the morning when Gwen Cooper approaches him on the train platform with the largest suitcase that Ianto has ever seen. It’s majesty pales in comparison to his small travelling bag, which sits, rather shabbily, on the floor of the platform. 

“Christ how did you even manage to get that in through the door?” he asks snarkily. 

“Oh shut up! I need twenty outfits minimum-”

“It’s a two week trip!” 

“A two week trip throughout Europe and I need to look my best!”

He rolls his eyes fondly. It is, after all, Gwen who is paying for the trip, so he might as well be nice to her. Judging by the state of his finances, he’ll probably never get to experience anything like this again. 

“Got your passport and everything?” she asks

“Yeah. I packed like a week ago, I don’t want to be miles away from home and realize I don’t have a coat or something,” he replies

“Of course you did. Why am I even surprised?” she asks, laughing at him. 

“I also wrote down some of the things I want to see. I know they have brochures and everything but we can plan out some of it on the way there. Did you know they have a coffee museum in Prague?”

“Why would anyone want to go to a museum about coffee?”

“I do!”

Gwen laughs at him. “Oh of course _you_ do!” 

“I feel intensely judged right now,” he says

“I’m not saying that’s a bad thing darling, but it is very you isn’t it”

“Rude Cooper, that’s all I’m saying.”

“Oh come on then, there’s our train!” she says finally and Ianto slings his bag over his backpack before helping her lift her suitcase

“Again, I have to ask, did you pack rocks in there?” he teases when they reach their seats. 

“Oh be quiet!” she says, rolling her eyes. She plops down on the polyester seat opposite him before digging inside her backpack for her discman. “I won’t let you listen to my music if you’re rude to me.”

She does end up sharing though, and almost immediately passes out on his shoulder. He listens to the sound of Spice Girls and Gwen’s soft snores while aimlessly staring out the window, watching the landscape pass by him, too fast to make out concrete figures.

His mind wanders to the day that Gwen surprised him with the trip. 

_Gwen had burst into his tiny room holding a flier and wearing her trademark I-can-get-you-to-do-anything-I-want face._

_“Ianto are you ready to become the happiest man on Earth?” she asked grinning._

_“I didn’t know you were planning on proposing,” he snarked back. “Don’t you think that might make Rhys feel out of the loop?”_

_“Oh shut up! I have good news for you. How’d you like to come with me on a trip across Europe?”_

_“Don’t really fancy being Rhys and your third wheel all across the continent. We already do enough of that in the flat.” he rolled his eyes. “Also, where do you think I can get the money to do that?”_

_“That’s the best part Mr. Jones! This trip is all expenses paid!”_

_“What?”_

_“Yup! Remember how I got Rhys and I that Eurorail package for Christmas? He can’t go.”_

_“What! Why?”_

_“They’ve offered him a job after graduation, but only if he interns with them over the spring holidays. We talked about it, he can’t miss the opportunity.”_

_“Gwen that’s too expensive, I can’t-”_

_“Otherwise I’ll have to go on the trip alone so I’d be wasting a ticket. Come on Ianto, it’s a free trip to send off our Uni days. When else are we going to be able to do this?”_

The promise of one last hurrah before the end of University was too enticing, so he had swallowed his pride and accepted the free trip. 

It could have been worse. Spending two weeks sightseeing with his best mate is like a dream come true. It’s a far cry from his original spring holiday plan of sitting in his room, studying, secretly getting high, and avoiding his drunkard father. 

He didn’t even bother telling anyone in his family. He doubts his father would have noticed or cared and in the last four years Gwen has been more of a sister than Rhiannon has ever been. _She’s_ never defended his father after knowing what he’s done.

But, he tells himself, it will all change. He’s almost done with Uni, and once he has a job, to hell with them. His father can literally drink himself to death, for all he cares, and he never has to speak with any of them again. 

Not that he does much now. 

The train chugs along and an hour later it finally reaches London. Ianto untangles the headphone wires and turns off the music before putting them both into Gwen’s bag. He attempts to shake off the melancholic mood he’s in before gently tapping her.

“Gwen get up, we’re almost here.” he says.

Gwen sniffs and mashes her face into his shoulder. 

“Gwen!” he says louder. 

She smacks him gently with her free arm and groans. 

“Up!’ he repeats. 

She groans again, this time louder and more annoyed, but her head flops to the other side. 

“Whattimeizit,” she mumbles.

“It’s almost eight. We’re in London.” he says. 

Gwen can never get up without moaning for at least twenty minutes and she uses the remaining train time to do exactly that. They both stumble off the train sleepily when it stops, and plop down on a nearby bench. 

“I think the next one is at nine.” Gwen says. Ianto takes out the timed itinerary from his bag and studies it intently. 

“Yup. The train to Paris is at nine, which means we have nearly an hour left,” he says

“Food?”

“God yes.”

The cafe they decide to sit at is small, but has food that they both like. Ianto takes the lid off his shitty coffee and adds a packet of sugar. It tastes a little like sawdust, but some coffee is better than no coffee. 

“Bet you’re sad that you didn’t bring a coffee machine eh?” Gwen says.

“I would have but only one of us is allowed an overweight suitcase,” Ianto says.

“Oi!” Gwen says, punching him in the arm. “Why do I like you again?”

“Probably because you would have failed your statistics class without me,” Ianto smirks.

“Damn, I guess you’re right.” she laughs. Taking a bite of her sandwich, she turns to him, looking serious. “Have you any idea what you’re going to do after we graduate?” 

“Not-not really, I guess I need to start applying. The grant money and my student job ends when I graduate so I suppose I’ll be homeless if I don’t have a job lined up.”

“Rhys and I wouldn’t just kick you out if you couldn’t make rent for a couple months.”

“I know but I still need one. I am _not_ going to ask my father for anything and Rhiannon doesn’t make enough money to lend me any.”

“How is Rhiannon?"

“No clue. The last time I spoke to her was Christmas. I don’t really want to talk about this right now, can we just enjoy the trip?”

“Of course! I’m sorry sweetheart, we can talk about it later.” she shakes her head apologetically. “Now, I want to get absolutely _wasted_ in at least three cities so we need to discuss which ones and which days so we can have the optimal mix of sightseeing, hangovers and recreational drugs. Give me your itinerary.”

Gwen grabs the itinerary from him and starts talking about hangovers and comments on the places he’s written down, giving him an effective distraction about thinking about the future. She doesn’t give him time to respond which is exactly what he needs. Keeping up with Gwen doesn’t give him enough time to overthink his life choices. 

For all of her pushing, she’s the only one who he can interact with when he feels overwhelmed because she can talk _at_ him for hours on her own if he can’t feel ready to be in a full conversation, and she’s probably the only one that would. A flash of gratefulness passes over him as he attempts to keep up with her conversation with herself. 

The hour passes quickly and soon enough they have to leave their table and board the train. He crumples their trash to throw away and as they get up Gwen touches his hand lightly. 

“Don’t frown sweetheart.” she smiles at him. “Who knows, maybe this trip will change our lives.”

He doesn’t realize how right she is until later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos/Comments are appreciated.


	2. London II

Ianto follows Gwen down the train to get to their seats. 

“Ugh I hope we don’t have backward facing seats.” he grumbles. 

“I'm not sure if we do," she responds. “But maybe we can trade with our seat neighbors.” 

“I don’t think they’d go for that.”

“Well we don’t need to worry about it because we have forward facing seats!” she says pointing to the double pair on her immediate right. “It’s these ones.” 

“Can I have the window seat?” he asks. 

Gwen pouts at him. Ianto stares back impassively. 

“Ugh fine!” she exclaims after a few seconds. He smiles and scoots past her to sit down. 

“Do you have water? I can’t get the taste of that disgusting coffee out of my mouth,” he says.

“Yes I should, give me a minute.” 

He uses the time that Gwen is messing around in her purse to look up at the trio of loud tourists that are walking towards them. The tallest one, an American, is wearing probably the most ridiculous coat he has ever seen, and is talking at a volume that hurts Ianto’s ears. The other two aren’t much better at their noise control. 

_Please don’t sit near us,_ he thinks to himself. 

His silent pleas are not answered. They reach the seats facing them and the short Asian woman tosses her backpack on the seat opposite Gwen. 

“Now Owen, I’m thinking we fight to the death on who gets to sit there,” the American says, loudly.

“Yeah, so Tosh can talk about electronics to me the whole way? Nah mate, I’m going to take a nap,” the weaselly looking man says. 

“Well I wouldn’t talk about software engineering to you Owen, you wouldn’t understand a thing I said,” says the Asian woman. 

The sudden noise must have disturbed Gwen because she looks up and her eyes widen. 

“Jack?” she asks.

“Gwen Cooper!” says the American. “What are you doing here?”

“Me and my friend Ianto are taking a train tour,” she says.“Ianto, this is Jack, we went to school together.”

“Nice to meet you,” says Ianto, giving him a polite smile. 

“Hello,” Jack says. His smile seems oddly wide and makes Ianto slightly uncomfortable for some reason. “These are my friends, Owen and Tosh. We’re also doing a train tour.”

“Oh, give me your ticket, I want to see if we have similar tours!” Gwen says.

“Hello!” the Asian woman says cheerfully. “I’m Tosh!” 

Owen, presumably, gives him a nod and grunts. He raises his eyebrows at Gwen, who is excitedly comparing tickets with an equally excited Jack, and walks away to another seat on the other side of the train.

“Oh he’s just grumpy because he had to work late last night, don’t mind him!” says Tosh. “Oh Jack, can you take the window seat? I get nauseous if I look out the window.”

“Sure! And guess what? We’re taking the same tour!” says Jack, beaming. Gwen looks at him for a moment before turning towards Ianto.

“Ianto can you come with me for a minute,” Gwen asks. He nods and follows her to the end of the train car. 

“So, since we’re going on the same tour, Jack suggested that we sightsee together. I didn’t want to say yes without asking you but-I know that we meant to go together and-”

He cuts her off and says, "Gwen it’s fine, we can sightsee with them. I mean Tosh seems like a nice person, and if you’re already friends with Jack then he must be decent.”

“He’s really nice once you get to know him. And we can always do things on our own if they don’t want to join us,” Gwen says. 

“Don’t worry, we’re definitely going to that coffee museum, whether or not they want to join us,” he laughs. Gwen rolls her eyes fondly and they walk back to their seats.

Jack and Tosh are looking at a travel pamphlet and as they sit down, Jack raises his eyebrows at Gwen. She nods and his smile widens.

“I think the number one thing that we should do is streak across St Peter’s Basilica,” Jack says smirking.

“Blasphemy!” Gwen says feigning indignation. 

“Correction: the number one thing that _you_ should do,” Jack leers. Gwen and Tosh chuckle and Gwen directs her attention to Tosh.

“Tosh right?” she says. “What do you do?”

“I’m currently in a postgraduate program.” Tosh replies promptly.

“Oh don’t sell yourself short. Dr. Sato here is getting a doctorate from Oxford.” Jack says proudly.

“Well I’m not technically Dr. Sato yet.” Tosh says. “Not until May. Anyway what about you Gwen?”

“Ianto and I are both in Uni,” Gwen says. Ianto nods awkwardly.

“Oh Uni’s always fun,” says Jack. “Parties, drinking games-”

“Studying for your classes-” Gwen interrupts snarkily.

Jack snorts. “Attractive Uni girls that put out?” he says, raising his eyebrows suggestively at Gwen, who rolls her eyes.

“Maybe in your dreams?” she asks cheekily.

“Should I take that as a cue to start sleeping all the time?” Jack responds.

Before Gwen can answer, Ianto turns to Tosh, who has been watching their interaction with an amused look. 

“Have you ever been to Paris before?” he asks, as a way to exit the uncomfortable conversation they had been in. He doesn’t mind Gwen flirting, She and Rhys do enough of that in their apartment to make him desensitized to the action. However, hearing her flirt with Jack, however harmless it is, makes him feel uneasy in a way he can’t recognize. 

“No I’ve never been.” he hears Tosh say. “What about you?”

“Neither have I,” he says. 

“But Paris is supposed to be beautiful in the springtime. And it probably won’t rain as much as in London,” Tosh says.

“Ah well you definitely haven’t been to Cardiff then.” Gwen laughs. “There are really only two weather options: raining and raining heavily.”

They laugh and soon Gwen and Tosh start their own side conversation about the foods they want to try during their trip. Ianto tries to focus on their conversation, but he’s unable to concentrate on what they are saying because he can’t stop staring at Jack. He shifts his gaze at Gwen disconnectedly, staring at her hair in an effort to look semi-involved rather than looking at him. 

“So, Ianto right? How’d you meet Gwen?” he hears Jack ask, before realizing that he’s talking to him. 

“Umm, we met at Uni. We were in a class together and we were assigned to be partners,” he stutters awkwardly. He looks away from Jack’s eyes, which make him feel nervous and instead stares up at his left eyebrow. 

“So you must know Rhys then. I’m surprised he didn’t join you.”

“Uh, well he was supposed to but he couldn’t make it.” Ianto says.

Gwen, thankfully, overhears them and explains why Rhys isn’t with them, because somehow Ianto isn’t able to actually hold a conversation with Jack without getting nervous. 

In fact, the last time someone affected his feelings so strongly was when he first met Lisa. But obviously the Lisa debacle was different, so why does he feel like this now. Jack hasn’t done anything to him personally, and Gwen likes him a lot. There’s no reason to be anxious if he thinks about it logically. 

Unfortunately his traitorous feelings get in the way again, and whenever he joins in on Gwen, Tosh, and Jack’s conversation, he mangles his words horribly and feels his skin burn whenever Jack looks at him. 

Ianto just hopes that the anxiety will go away once he gets to know him better. Otherwise it will be a very uncomfortable two weeks of what is supposed to be the best vacation of his life. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos/Comments are appreciated!
> 
> Find me on tumblr [here](https://violetmessages.tumblr.com/)


	3. Paris

They start their day-trip of Paris at a small cafe, where he enjoys his first good coffee of the day.

Tosh watches him practically make love to the cup and chuckles.

“That’s our Ianto,” says Gwen laughing. “Attracted to coffee.”

“Shut up Gwen,” he says, and she laughs goodnaturedly. 

After they’ve had coffee and cocoa and pastries, Jack announces that he wants to see the Eiffel Tower. 

“That’s the most touristy thing I can ever think of,” moans Owen.

“Yeah Jack, don’t you want to see the Louvre or the Notre Dame Cathedral?” Tosh asks.

“I’m in Paris, I want to see the touristy things,” Jack says. 

“I’ll go with you Jack,” Gwen says. “But I also want to see Notre Dame.”

Ianto pulls out his itinerary. 

“They have tours in the afternoon, we could go then. But I don’t really fancy going to the Eiffel Tower though.”

“What if we split up?” Tosh offers. “Ianto, Owen, and I can go to the Louvre, and you two can go to the Eiffel Tower. And we can meet back here at two?”

Unsurprisingly, they all agree. Ianto, Tosh, and Owen set off for the Louvre, and he finally gets a chance to properly talk to Owen. He's annoying, sour, and oddly the funniest one of the three. Ianto thinks they would have gotten along, if not for the fact that Owen is an annoying twat.

Aside from the company however, he’s having a good time. He spends most of his time only talking to Tosh. The three of them wander through the Greek sculpture section. 

“You know, all of these women look like men with tits,” Owen comments.

Ianto snorts. 

“Hush, let us enjoy it,” Tosh snaps back. 

“Ianto found it funny,” Owen replies. 

“Well-”

“-Don’t encourage him Ianto!” Tosh says, and Owen laughs at her. 

“Well come on and look at this one’s bollocks.” Owen says, pointing.

“Apparently the Greeks thought that smaller penises were the ideal of male beauty,” Ianto comments.

Tosh snickers. 

“I bet some king had a really small cock and made that up because all of his servants had bigger ones than him.” Owen says. 

Predictably, by the end of the tour Owen has made about three dozen dick jokes, all of which are hilarious, but none of which Ianto will never admit to laughing at. As they exit the Louvre, Owen looks down at his watch. 

“One-thirty. We’re going to be late.”

“I’m sure it will be fine,” Ianto says. 

“If Jack asks, I’m saying you two birds spent too long looking at cock sculptures.” Owen says

“I’m pretty sure it was you that was doing that,” Ianto retorts.

“Boys!” Tosh warns. They stay relatively quiet after that. 

Jack and Gwen are standing by the steps of the Cathedral. 

“You’re late,” says Jack.

“Perceptive as ever, aren’t you,” Owen replies.

“The tour guide is at the top, we’d better make a move if we’re going to do anything else today,” Gwen says. 

“You mean we have to climb that thing!” Owen moans.

"How else would we get up there?"

"I don't know, an bloody lift?"

“Nope. It’s only about 400 steps though.” Ianto says.

“Fuck,”

“Shall we climb?” asks Jack with a gleam in his eye. 

When they finally reach the top, they all collectively groan a sigh of relief. The view is spectacular, but Ianto thinks his knees might give out. 

“Look there’s the tour guide,” Tosh points. They walk to join the small group that has congregated around him. Jack shakes the tour guide's hand and gives him a wide smile. 

The tour guide is clearly charmed by Jack, and offers to give them a special separate tour. As he points out the special architecture and the grotesque gargoyles that line the outside, Jack responds quickly, monopolizing the conversation, and very clearly flirting. 

Ianto peers at Jack. He feels an odd sort of jealousy for the tour guide. Then he frowns, confused at why he feels that way. 

Jack catches his staring and sends a raised eyebrow his way. Unable to stop blushing, he smiles awkwardly and quickly pivots to talk to Gwen. 

The tour guide clearly wants to talk to Jack for longer, but Gwen pulls him away. They descend the steps and Gwen and Tosh decide they want to go shopping at the Champs-Élysées. Jack agrees, but refuses to call any sort of taxi. 

“We can see more of Paris on the ground!” he insists. 

Paris is beautiful in the spring. The trees are blooming, and the weather is nice enough that Ianto doesn’t have to wear a jacket. Today has probably been the best day of his year so far. 

Minus of course, the weird pit in his stomach that only appears when he talks to Jack. 

Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be something that he can control, so his strategy so far is to simply ignore it, and Jack as a whole. It’s very rude to Jack, who has been nothing but nice to him, but it works. He follows Gwen and Tosh as they walk from store to store, Jack and Owen beside him. It’s almost eight when the girls are finally done shopping. 

“Shall we go see the Arc de Triomphe now?” Jack asks. 

Gwen gapes at him. 

“Absolutely not!” Tosh says. 

“I’m hungry,” announces Owen. “We’ve been walking all day because Jack’s insane and thinks he can see everything in Paris in one day.”

“You can if you aren’t a coward,” Jack laughs.

“Well I want to take a break now.” Gwen cuts in and turns to him. “Ianto, did you pick a restaurant out on your itinerary?”

Everyone turns to look at Ianto. He fishes out his itinerary from his bag. 

“There’s one a short walk away from the hotel-”

“-I vote that one,” Owen interrupts.

“-Or we can go to a cheaper one that’s about a mile from here.” he finishes. 

“Hotel,” Owen repeats. 

“I’d be fine with anything honestly,” Tosh says. 

Owen rolls his eyes. “If you’re ok with anything, that means you’re ok with going to the one closest to us.”

It’s not really a surprise that they end up going to the one near the hotel. As Ianto walks up the steps to the entrance, Gwen grabs his hand and squeezes it. He turns to her and shoots her a smile. 

“Did you want to go to the cheaper one?” she whispers in his ear. 

Ianto frowns and shakes his head. She knows that he has to be careful with his money, but not stingy.

“It’s alright, I have enough. I probably can’t buy as many shitty souvenirs as I would have. Just as well, really.”

“Tell me if you don’t want to do something Ianto. This is our trip and-”

“-Really Gwen, I appreciate it, but it’s fine.” He interrupts.

She nods her head and gives his arm another squeeze. Then she turns to Owen and starts making idle conversation that Ianto isn’t listening to. 

The inside of the restaurant is fancy. The maître d' takes them to a small circular table and Ianto sits next to Gwen and Tosh. 

Jack flirts with the waiter who takes their orders. Ianto can’t help but stare at the two of them, looking in awe at the way Jack can effortlessly charm the blond-haired man into giving them free drinks.

The way Jack’s eyes sparkle while he talks.

The sinking pit in his stomach as the waiter responds. 

Jack catches him staring and gives him an odd look. He quickly averts his eyes. Jack must think he’s completely rude. He’s been avoiding him the entire time, and now he’s staring at him. 

As the blond waiter comes back with their food, Jack flirts with him again. Ianto is still staring, but looks away when Jack looks at him. He narrows his eyebrows at Ianto, but doesn't say a word. 

The conversation at the table flows easily, and as usual, Ianto contributes about three sentences total. Jack and Gwen are so alike that they end up having an argument about whether or not cereal is a soup. Tosh and Owen chime in every few minutes, the former adding in her two cents, while the latter simply egging them both on. 

“Soup has to have vegetables or meat-”

“-No it doesn’t! Haven’t you ever heard of sweet soups!-”

“-Sweet soups are not a thing, they’re either fruit juices or-”

“-Sweet soups are definitely a thing-”

“Excuse me?” the waiter finally interrupts. “Would you like to order dessert?”

Jack turns his attention away from Gwen and smiles brilliantly at the waiter, who Ianto can tell is blushing. 

“Of course. What would you recommend?” Jack askes.

“My favorite is the Clafoutis. It is sort of like a black cherry pie, and you can share it with everyone.”

“That sounds delicious.” Jack replies. “How do we feel about getting that?”

“Why not?” Gwen says. 

“I’m not going to have any mate, I’m stuffed,” Owen says. 

“Sure Jack,” says Tosh. 

Jack then looks at him. Ianto is trying very hard not to stare at his face.

“Ianto?” Jack asks cagily. 

Ianto nods his assent. He narrows his eyebrows at the waiter, who looks besotted with Jack. 

Jack looks slightly annoyed but it flattens to a wide smile when he turns to the waiter. 

“One Clafoutis please.”

“Of course.” 

The waiter walks away. Ianto’s eyes are trained on the waiter until he is out of sight, then they drop back down to his plate until the dessert arrives. 

He cuts into his slice and stares back up at Jack. The waiter is writing a number on Jack’s arm. 

Jack looks at Ianto staring and almost glares. He can feel himself going red, and immediately starts taking to Tosh, trying to get Jack to stop looking at him. 

_Why do I care so much about what he thinks of me,_ he asks himself. _Why do I care if he flirts with Gwen, or a tour guide, or a waiter?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos/Comments are appreciated!
> 
> Find me on tumblr [here](https://violetmessages.tumblr.com/)


	4. A6 Motorway

Ianto browses the shelves of the tiny gift shop in the train station. Scanning the shelves up and down, he finally decides on an Eiffel Tower replica, small enough to fit into his hand. He grabs it off the shelf and walks to the cash register. 

Standing in front of him is Jack. 

_Bollocks_. 

Jack has seemingly caught on to his avoidance tactics because he hasn’t said a word to Ianto since dinner two nights ago. The most he’s done is glare at him before quickly looking away. 

However Ianto can’t exactly avoid him now, not when they’ve got maybe five minutes left before their train leaves. So, he pulls himself together and walks behind him in line. 

Jack seems to realize that Ianto is behind him because he visibly stiffens. When it’s his turn to pay, he talks to the cashier loudly and flirts in a combination of broken french and english. The girl manning the cashier doesn’t look like she minds, because she’s blushing furiously and probably flirting back. 

“Can you hurry up?” Ianto asks Jack politely. “The train’s about to leave.”

Jack rolls his eyes at him. 

“Yeah whatever,” he says, and continues to chat with the cashier. 

Ianto looks down at his watch. He’s got less than a minute left. 

_Fine_ , he thinks. Walking out of the line, he puts the souvenir back on a shelf before leaving the store. Jack comes running out after him, clutching a bag. 

“Why’d you run off?” he asks, smirking. 

“Because the train’s about to leave,” he replies sourly. 

Jack stands in front of him. 

“Can you move?” he asks, trying to get by him. Jack blocks his way again. 

“Not my fault that you were too slow,” he says. 

“It is your fault!” Ianto says glaring. “You took too much time at the register.”

“The register's free for all. You should have shopped faster.”

“Look I don’t have time for this, can you just get out of my-”

Ianto stops talking when he sees the train he and Jack are supposed to be on leave the station. He darts to the side and makes a desperate attempt to run after it, but it’s far too fast and it’s soon out of the station. Ianto rests his hands on his knees, gasping desperately for air. 

He’s at the edge of the platform. 

Alone, without any of his luggage, and with less than 100 euros to his name. 

“Fuck!” he shouts. People are staring at him but he doesn’t care. He’s lost and broke in a country he’s never been to, and neither he nor Gwen have phones to call each other. 

He turns to Jack, who is looking very amused. 

“We _missed_ our train!” he yells at him. “Wait sorry, no. _You_ made us miss our train!”

Jack laughs sarcastically. 

“How did I make you miss our train? It's not my fault-”

“-You took too long in the store! Then you blocked my way!”

“Why are you so worried? We can just catch the next train.”

Ianto is so angry he thinks he’s about to shake. All he sees is red. Still lightheaded from the running, he takes both his hands forwards and shoves Jack.

“What the fuck!”

“I don’t have any money!” he yells. “I don’t have any fucking money. So no, I can’t just get on the next train. Jesus fuck, do you ever think?”

All the anger ebbs out of him as he angrily walks away from Jack and sits on a nearby bench. His eyes are stinging, and Ianto blinks urgently to stop himself from crying. Hands shaking, he quietly rubs his eyes. 

What is he supposed to do now? If he pawns off his watch, he might have enough money to get a ticket to London, but how is he supposed to get back to Cardiff then? Maybe if he called Rhiannon, she might come pick him up, but more likely, she wouldn’t even pick up his call. Is he just supposed to sleep on the street for two weeks until his return ticket is valid?

He doesn’t notice that Jack is sitting next to him until he gently shakes his shoulder. 

“Look I’m sorry,” he says. “It was a stupid thing to do, but I just-”

“Just?” Ianto interrupts. 

“Look it doesn’t matter. I’ll help you out with the train ticket. How much money do you have?” he asks. 

“Ninety euros.” he responds gloomily. 

“Well that’s almost enough for a ticket!” Jack says excitedly. “I’ll cover the rest-”

“No, I have ninety euros total. If I buy a ticket then I can’t eat for the rest of the trip.”

“Oh.”

“Yep.”

Jack scratches his head. After a moment, his face lights up again. 

“We can rent a car!” he says beaming. 

“What?”

“I’ll rent a car and drive us to Rome. It’ll be cheaper than buying a ticket anyway.”

“I-”

“Look I’ll cover it. Hold on, stay right here and I’ll go figure it out,” Jack says, and runs off. 

Ianto stays put, mostly because he has nothing else to do. Jack returns after about twenty minutes, clutching a paper slip and a set of keys in his hand, his face clearly showing that things have gone his way. 

“Come on, the car’s outside the station.”

“How much did the car cost?” he asks, already knowing that he can’t pay for it. 

“Don’t worry about it.” Jack replies and grabs his hand. He pulls Ianto with him to the door. The thought of being treated like a charity case disgusts him, and sheer desperation seems to be the only thing that pushes him to accept Jack’s offer. When they reach the small car lot, Ianto jerks his hand back. 

Jack rolls his eyes after Ianto pulls his hand away, but miraculously doesn’t say a word. He leads Ianto to the edge of the lot and points to a red car. 

“That’s ours.”

“It doesn’t have a roof,” says Ianto.

“It folds up. It’s warm enough that we don’t need one,” Jack replies and gets into the driver's seat. Ianto wisely keeps his mouth shut and gets into the other side. He plops down his backpack into his lap, and Jack pulls the car onto the road. 

Neither of them speak again until they’ve reached the A6 Motorway. 

“There’s a map in the glovebox. I marked out the route, and I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to drive for another three hours, but can you check it just in case?” Jack says. 

Ianto takes out the map. He tries to unfold it, cursing at the wind. 

“Can you put the top up?” he asks. 

“Sure,” says Jack. He pushes a button and the roof comes back up. Ianto opens up the map and stares at it. 

“You’re going the right way. You need to take the exit towards Grenoble, but that’s not for another 400 kilometers.”

“Thanks,” Jack says.

Ianto nods in return, folding up the map and returning it to the glovebox. 

“So, um, you and Gwen?” Jack asks awkwardly. 

“Uh, what about me and Gwen?” Ianto replies. 

“How long have you known her?” Jack says. 

“Um, about three years,” he responds. “We met in Uni.”

“Mmm.” Jack says.

“Yep,” Ianto responds uncomfortably. 

They sit in uneasy silence for a couple minutes before Jack finally opens his mouth. 

“Look, we’re gonna have to spend fourteen hours together in the same car, so we have to get along I guess. Even if you are-” he trails off. 

“I’m a what?” Ianto says, frowning.

“A homophobic asshole!” Jack finally says, sounding annoyed. 

“I’m not a homophobe!” Ianto exclaims. 

“Oh yeah! How come you wouldn’t look at me after I flirted with that tour guide! And kept glaring at that waiter!” 

“I didn’t”

“Oh yeah you did!”

“I don’t-I don’t care that you’re gay!”

“You clearly do. It makes you uncomfortable. Plus I’m not gay. I don’t like labels.”

“I’m not uncomfortable with that!”

“Then what are you uncomfortable with!”

Ianto stays silent. He is uncomfortable with Jack. But not for the reasons that he thinks. 

“I’m not uncomfortable with anything,” he says

“Whatever.” Jack says, all the fight going out of him. He doesn’t look angry anymore, just resigned, and Ianto wonders how many rude idiots Jack has had to deal with. 

“Look, I’m not homophobic, I just-I need a little time to get to know people. That’s all.” Ianto says. “Wait, is this why you’ve been glaring at me? This is why you made me miss my train!”

Jack looks sheepish. 

“Yeah I guess. Sorry about that. I just-I didn’t want to spend my holiday with an asshole.”

“Oh,” 

“Anyways, maybe we can, I don’t know, start over? Get to know each other a little bit? We’re going to be spending a lot of time in this car”

“Yeah, of course.” 

“So, what are you studying in Uni?” 

The hours pass by quickly. After talking for a little bit, Jack suggests they turn on the radio, and they amuse themselves by listening to foreign songs that neither one of them can understand and rating them. 

At around 7, Jack tells him he wants to stop for the night in Valais. Ianto agrees. He’s desperately hungry, and he doesn’t want Jack falling asleep at the wheel. . Jack exits off the motorway, and switches to a local road. 

“It’s really beautiful.” Ianto says. “The scenery I mean. I’ve never been out of Cardiff.”

“It is,” Jack agrees. “It’s part of the reason Tosh and I decided on this trip. The train goes through some amazing landscapes.”

“Just you and Tosh?”

“Well Owen didn’t really care. He just wanted a vacation somewhere. He’s a junior doctor you know, he only gets a few weeks off a year.”

He pulls over at a small lodge with a sign that says they still have occupancies. The owner is an older brown-haired woman, who speaks in heavily-broken english. Between Jack’s bad french, and her english, it takes a while before they finally manage to get a room. She leads them upstairs and leaves them in front of their room with their key. 

Jack twists the key into the lock and opens the door. 

“This is nice,” he says. 

The room is nice. It’s very spacious, and has a giant window overlooking the mountains. However there is one problem. 

“There’s only one bed,” Ianto says. 

“Yeah,” Jack says sharply. He turns to Ianto and grins sarcastically. “Guess we’ll have to share. Unless of course you’re too uncomfortable with your sexuality to share a bed with another man?”

He’s not uncomfortable with sleeping next to another man. He’s passed out next to Rhys after pub nights all the time. It’s Jack that’s the problem. Jack, who makes him visibly nervous to talk to and be around. Jack, who lights up when talking to anyone, whether he knows them or not. 

Jack who makes him feel like Lisa did. 

_Oh,_ he realizes. _Oh shit!_

“I’ll be fine!” Ianto says, panicking. “Besides, it’s your fault we’re in this mess!”

“Yeah whatever,” Jack replies. “The lady said she’d make us dinner if we went downstairs now, so I’m gonna do that. Coming?”

“Yeah.” Ianto says, and he follows Jack out of the room and down the stairs, internally freaking out.

_What the fuck am I supposed to do now?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos/Comments are appreciated!
> 
> Find me on tumblr [here](https://violetmessages.tumblr.com/)


	5. Valais

Now that he’s become aware of Jack, to an even greater extent than before, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to hide how he’s really feeling. Ianto stares down at his soup like it’s the only thing that might give him meaning. 

How, the everloving fuck, did he manage to catch feelings for someone this intensely and quickly? And more importantly, for a man?

Ianto wasn’t lying. He doesn’t think he’s homophobic. There wasn’t exactly anyone on the estate who was properly gay, but he’s met all sorts of people at Uni. And he’s never been rude or anything. To each their own. It just wasn’t for him. 

He’d never exactly thought of it in terms of himself before. 

Ianto strains his mind, trying to think of any occasion where he’s acted “off”, or some sort of clue. There have only ever been girls before. There was Cerys Jones, who smiled at him all the time in 3rd form, then announced that they were dating in 4th form. It hadn’t lasted very long. And Mary Davis, who wouldn’t talk to him after he’d kissed her. Then there was Mairwen Williams in 6th form who let him put his hands down her shirt. And of course, Lisa.

Lisa with her beautiful eyes, and her soft voice, and her-

 _Stop that,_ he yells at himself. It’s been two years and he’s still not ready to unpack that box yet. Besides he’s got bigger problems than thinking about Lisa, who he will never talk to again. 

Mainly Jack. 

Who is sitting opposite him, positively making love to his plate. 

His eyes twinkle as they reflect the dull light of their surroundings. He fits in here, like he fits in everywhere obviously, but especially here in the little courtyard they’re sitting in overlooking the Swiss Mountains. 

He can already hear his Tad’s voice in his head, jeering him for daring to think of Jack in that way. 

“ _Look what happened to you. You should have gotten a real man’s job, like working in the steelworks or fixing cars. I told you what would happen if you went off to Uni like some poncy twat. You’ve turned into a fucking queer!”_

“Are you just going to look at your plate all night?” Jack asks, his loud voice interrupting Ianto’s impending sexuality crisis. “Or can I eat that last slice of bread?”

Ianto nods his head in assent, and Jack grabs the slice and takes a big bite out of it. 

“What’s up with you?” he asks while still chewing.

“Did no one ever teach you _basic table manners?”_ Ianto replies, looking horrified. “No really, I’m asking?” he says in response to Jack’s laughter. 

“Why bother with manners when it’s such a small audience,” shrugs Jack. 

“I care,”

“Very sad for you isn’t it?”

“Whatever,” he mumbles, and turns back down to his bowl of cooling soup. Their conversation doesn’t manage to continue. 

_I can’t-there’s no way that I-_ , he thinks. There must be a mistake, and he’s just managed to mix up his emotions. Maybe he’s just completely traumatized from Lisa and he doesn’t know how feelings work anymore. Maybe he just likes Jack and isn’t used to liking new people. What if he really doesn’t like him that way. 

_But what if you do,_ thinks his traitorous brain.

After Jack’s finished his dinner and Ianto’s attempted to eat his soup, to no avail, they hike back up to their room. Ianto drops his backpack onto the couch, and sits down next to it. He takes out the map that he’d stuffed in there, and starts to study it.

“Oh come on, we don’t need to plan any more!” Jack says. “I’m bored. And I have something we can do!”

He extracts a liquor bottle from his bag and raises his eyebrows questioningly. 

“Really?” he groans. “Where did you even get that?”

“Picked it up when you were looking at paint. So, wanna play a drinking game?”

“That sounds like a terrible idea.”

“Do you have any better ones?”

Ianto rolls his eyes, but he can’t think of anything else to do to pass the time, so he sits down on the floor next to Jack. 

“Did you happen to buy any cups?” he asks. 

“Nope! We’ll have to bottle shoot it.” Jack replies. “Never Have I Ever or Truth or Dare?”

Ianto wrinkles his nose. “What are we, twelve?”

“If you don’t want to choose I pick Never Have I Ever,” Jack shrugs. 

“Fine. I’ll start. Never have I ever gone to school in England.” Ianto says.

“Boring!” Jack chants, and brings the bottle to his lips. He takes a small sip then faces Ianto. “Never have I ever had sex in the men’s washroom while a woman poured orange juice over us.”

Ianto looks at him shocked. “No I have not done that!”

“I haven’t either. Well, not while someone poured orange juice over me, but-” he trails off. 

Ianto stares at him, eyebrows raised. 

“Your turn!” he says cheekily. 

“Never have I ever passed out after drinking,” he says. 

“Never?” Jack asks, looking shocked. “How have you gone to Uni and never-”

“-I’m not irresponsible enough to get alcohol poisoning,” Ianto says. 

Jack shakes his head. Then a wicked looking smile appears on his face. 

“Let’s change the game because I don’t think you’re even going to get buzzed from this. Tonight, Ianto Jones, you are going to get properly drunk!” he exclaims. 

“Don’t I get a choice in this?” Ianto asks annoyedly. 

“Nope!” Jack replies cheerily. “Ianto, truth or dare?”

“This is a game for twelve year old girls,” Ianto grumbles.

“Truth or dare?” asks Jack again. 

“Fine, dare,” Ianto acquiesces. 

“I dare you to streak across the hotel,” Jack says, eyes gleaming. 

“I am not doing that!” Ianto retorts in fury. “Absolutely not!”

“Then you’re going to have to drink,” Jack says smiling widely. He hands Ianto the opened bottle. 

Ianto grabs the bottle and gulps down a mouthful of alcohol. The liquor burns his throat and he coughs at the vile taste. 

“Your turn!” says Jack. 

“Truth or dare?” Ianto asks. 

“Truth,”

“Umm, what’s the biggest thing you’ve ever gotten away with?” 

“I stole my mom’s car and sold part of the engine off, then blamed it on some car thieves that were already doing that” Jack says.

“And you got away with that?” Ianto asks, amazed

“Yup!” he grins, then lifts the bottle up and takes a gulp. 

“You answered the question, don’t you not have to take a drink then?” Ianto asks.

“I’m just trying to speed things up,” he replies. “Anyways, truth or dare?”

“Truth,”

“Who was your last relationship with and why did it end?” Jack asks.

“That’s two questions!” complains Ianto . 

“Fine,” Jack rolls his eyes. “Answer both of them and you can get two turns next time.”

“I’m not answering that. Give me the bottle.” Ianto says. He takes it from Jack and drinks. 

“You didn’t answer two questions so you have to take two shots.” Jack says gleefully. “Take another drink.”

Ianto takes another drink. He’s starting to feel woozy already. It probably won’t take longer to get him completely drunk. 

“You know this is a bad idea right? I don’t want to go to the hospital because of you."

“You are not going to get alcohol poisoning, I’m very responsible!”

“This is the same responsibility that made us miss the train right?”

“Hey!” Jack pouts. Ianto laughs at his expression. 

“You look like a child,” he says.

“Could a child do this?” Jack responds. He grabs the bottle and takes a long swig from it, then hands it back to Ianto. “Your turn. Go take another shot.”

Clearly the rational decision making part of his brain has shut off because Ianto actually drinks more. He feels warm and hazy, and can tell he’s past being just tipsy. 

“My turn,” he says. “Truth or Dare?”

They continue playing for a while. Ianto thinks it’s about midnight when they finally finish off the whole bottle. He’s so drunk that he doesn’t know if he can get off the floor and the room is blurry. He’s tired but also oddly euphoric. 

Jack is sitting cross-legged next to him. He’s swaying side to side, and humming a song that they listened to on the radio. 

“Iantooo,” Jack whines. “Truth or Dare?"

Ianto giggles in response. “Dare,” he finally says. 

“I-” Jack pauses to laugh. “-I dare you to kiss me,”

“What?” he mumbles. 

“Kiss me,” Jack sways wildly. “Do it I dare you.”

“Huh,” Ianto asks, confused. He doesn't understand what’s going on.

“You’re so pretty,” Jack says, slurring. “I wanted to kiss you on the train when I saw you. Wanted to make you jealous.”

“Shuddup-”

“-Make me then,”

Ianto reaches out in a drunken haze and fumbles to reach Jack. His vision is so blurry that he can’t even see properly. He grabs the front of Jack’s shirt, and pulls him forward until he’s so close that he can feel Jack’s breath on his face. 

Ianto takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and presses his lips against Jack’s.

Jack throws his arm over Ianto’s shoulder. He pulls him even closer until they are almost sitting on top of each other, and they kiss, lips sliding against each other until Ianto wrenches back gasping. He looks into Jack’s eyes, and finds the same shocked expression that he’s wearing reflected back at him. He leans forward to kiss him again desperately. 

Jack ends the kiss after a few seconds, and Ianto lets out a soft noise he wasn’t aware he could make. He reaches to kiss him again, but Jack grabs him off the floor instead. He clumsily drags him, both stumbling unwieldy to the bed, pushing him onto the mattress and dropping down next to him. Ianto pulls him closer to kiss him again and they slide against each other, hands moving, touching everywhere in the silvery light of the open window.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos/Comments are appreciated!
> 
> Find me on tumblr [here](https://violetmessages.tumblr.com/)


	6. A1 Motorway

Ianto wakes up with a dry mouth and a splitting headache. He’s sprawled on top of the bed, smashed up against Jack, who is snoring loudly. 

_Fuck._

His head spins as he remembers the blurry events of last night. Jack’s stupid drinking games, oversharing, and worse: snogging him senseless. 

What the fuck prompted him to do that? Didn’t he just make up his mind that he’d just craved attention - that he didn’t know how to tell romantic attention from platonic. 

_Well_ , he thought, _you’ve just gone and proved Tad right._

Jack rubs his eyes and moans loudly, effectively cutting off his self-reproachful lecture on his behavior. 

“I hate hangovers,” Jack groans, voice scratchy from sleep.

“Then you probably shouldn’t have drank so much last night,” replies Ianto, feeling equally as whiny. Jack shoves his hand lazily at him, clearly aiming to hit him, but missing the mark by several centimeters. 

“About last night-” he begins to say.

“-Oh don’t tell me I did something embarrassing,” Ianto lies quickly, cutting him off before he can say anything more. “I don’t remember anything from last night. We must have drank so much.”

Jack gives him a hard look. Ianto panics, thinking Jack will poke through his lie, but he just smiles faintly.

“Yeah, me too.” Jack says. “Anyway, don’t worry too much about hangovers. I’ve got Owen’s signature cure with me!”

“You carry hangover cure with you at all times?”

“Nah,” Jack shrugs. “Not all the time. Just on vacation. Don’t worry, it’s normal - just a packet of soy sauce and green tea. And of course, a full fry up if possible.” 

“A fry up isn’t exactly an unorthodox hangover cure.” Ianto says. 

“Well, it’s mainly just drinking a shot of lukewarm soy sauce. It’s supposed to get rid of the hangover right away,” Jack says.

“That sounds revolting. I’ll ask the woman downstairs if she’ll make us coffee with our breakfast instead,” Ianto says, grimacing. He flops off the bed and checks for the time. 

“Suit yourself. Of course, Owen also suggests wanking,” Jack says with a grin. “I’d be perfectly happy to lend a hand if you wanted one.”

Ianto goes red. 

“Erm, no thanks,” he stutters. Then, like a coward, he flees to the bathroom to take a shower and drown his feelings.

When he leaves the bathroom, Jack is standing in the middle of the room, almost naked. A towel is wrapped around his waist. 

“Uh - bathroom is open,” he mumbles, and averts his eyes. 

“Thanks!” says Jack, and bounds exuberantly over to it. Evidently his hangover cure has worked, because he’s no longer clutching his forehead in pain. 

The sight of Jack’s naked back causes Ianto's mouth to dry up, and as soon as he closes the door, Ianto sinks to the couch, rubbing his temples. Hangover aside, the theory that he might like guys as well, is starting to gain serious merit, causing his head to pound even more. 

He’s got no idea how to deal with this new information. If Gwen were here, he might have dropped it casually into conversation, and waited for her inevitable opinion. Obviously he can’t do that now, or even when they’ve caught up with the others. A vacation is not the ideal time to have a sexuality crisis, nor is the time to bother others with it. 

But, it’s just a two week vacation. At the end of it, Ianto can walk away, having learned a fun fact about himself, that he never has to acknowledge. And it’s not like he has to talk to Jack after this. 

He can be perfectly friendly, and at the end of the vacation it won’t be a problem anymore. Jack is nice, albeit flirty in an uncomfortably intriguing way, and it isn’t hard not to be entertained by him. 

_There_ , Ianto thinks. _That’s the new plan._

Jack bounds out of the bathroom, awash with energy. He stalks over to Ianto and pulls him up.

“Breakfast?” He asks, mouth curving into a grin. “Gotta do step three of the hangover process!”

Before Ianto can even agree, Jack starts picking up their bags. He begins to clean up the room slightly, shoving the empty bottle into his bag and picking up scraps of paper they had torn last night while playing. 

“Ready?” He asks. 

The downstairs area where they ate dinner is buzzing with quiet conversation. A few people are sitting at the café tables. One man is reading a paper quietly, while another table seats three people who are talking quietly in German. 

Their host shows them to a table laden with food. Ianto spots a coffee pot and sighs with relief. Pouring himself a cup, he gulps down half of it immediately. Then he picks up a croissant, spoons a bit of red jam into a bowl, and sits down at a small table facing the scenery. It looks even more beautiful in the daylight.

Jack, on the other hand, takes a little bit of everything. When he walks to where Ianto is sitting, he’s carrying porridge topped with berries, fried bacon, hard boiled eggs, and bread spread with butter. 

“Did you bring the whole table back,” Ianto laughs at him.

“What!” Jack rolls his eyes. “It’s for both of us!” 

He pushes the plate of bacon and eggs towards Ianto, and pinches off a bite of Ianto’s croissant, dipping it into the bowl of jam. 

“Oi!” Ianto protests. Jack smiles indulgently at him.

“I said we could share,” he says, mouth full of food. 

“Then get your own,” Ianto replies, batting away Jack’s hands as he reaches for another bite. “There are plenty more at the table.”

“And why would I do that when there’s a perfectly good gipfeli right here at the table?” 

“Gipfeli?”

“That’s what it’s called. Similar to a croissant, but less buttery.” Jack reaches for another piece, but Ianto slaps his hand away. “It’s been a while since I’ve had one.”

“When did you first have it?” Ianto asks, curiously.

“A couple years ago,” Jack says, mouth still full. “I was hitchhiking with a couple of friends and we ended up lost and out of money near Sion. So we persuaded this nice older couple to let us sleep in their restaurant. They gave us 20 euros and gipfeli in the morning.”

“That was nice of them.”

“Yeah,” Jack says wistfully. “That was an interesting time in my life.”

“Oh?” Ianto responds. He’s trying not to sound too pushy or interested, but he wants to know the story. “What happened then?”

“It’s a long story. But we’ve slept together, so I think we’re close enough for me to tell you now.”

Ianto’s face goes red. This is entirely new information. He remembers trying to suck Jack’s soul out of his mouth, but he doesn’t remember having sex with him. Before he can respond however, Jack laughs loudly.

“In the same bed,” he mocks.

“Of course I knew that,” Ianto says in relief. “So, what’s the story?”

“Well, our intrepid hero began his journey when I was sixteen. That’s when I left home and went to London.”

“From Swansea?”

“Yeah. Same school as Gwen, but obviously not in the same year. Anyway, I took my GSCSs, but I didn’t exactly have a plan when I left.” He pauses, taking a big bite of porridge. “I was essentially homeless and doing some _slightly_ illegal stuff-”

“Slightly illegal?”

“Okay, maybe more than slightly.” Jack laughs. “Anyway, one time I robbed these two people and they caught me. But instead of turning me into the police, they invited me to go travelling with them.”

“So you decided to travel with two people you just met, and who showed that they didn’t care about the law?” Ianto looks at him, gobsmacked. 

Jack smiles sheepishly. “I suppose. But don’t worry, it obviously worked out.”

“And then?”

“A much longer story. Traveling across the world with them - it was just amazing. Rose and The Doctor were some of the most interesting people you could ever meet.”

Ianto gulps down the last dregs of his coffee and slides his chair out. He stands up and extends his hand to Jack, who takes it with surprise. 

“We’ve got a long car ride to Rome. Maybe you could share more on the way?”

Jack gives him a blinding smile.

“Maybe.”

Surprisingly, after learning about their plan to drive to Rome, the owner of the lodge sends them off with a large lunch. She’s seemed to have taken a fancy to Jack, as most people do - Ianto notices - and somehow Jack has managed to charm her despite his exceptionally bad French. She waves them out as they exit, pack lunches and bags in hand, and soon their car is zooming across the A1 Motorway. 

“So, you wanted to know more about Rose and The Doctor.” Jack says. His hands grip the wheel tightly, but he seems much less tense than yesterday.

“What sort of a name is The Doctor, anyway?” 

Jack laughs at that, and irresponsibly turns to smile at Ianto. 

“Watch the road!” Ianto yells at him. Jack rolls his eyes and turns his face back towards the front.

“The Doctor is a nickname,” He says. “His real name was Dr. John Smith, and he had about ten doctorates. He was some kind of child prodigy, or something, because I’m not sure how else someone could have that many degrees. He got bored with academics at some point, and he decided to spend the rest of his life travelling the world in his car.”

Jack pauses, and Ianto pushes further. 

“A car? Around the world?”

“Yes,” Jack laughs. “He used to take that ridiculous blue jalopy everywhere. It was like he was married to it. Anyway, he met this other girl, Rose, at a shop and invited her to join him, just like me. We would go anywhere he wanted."

Ianto didn’t respond, too interested to interrupt.

“We didn’t have any spare money. We’d just sleep in the car, or pile into a cheap bedsit for a night. If we needed money, he’d just set anchor somewhere for a few weeks to earn some, then off we’d go.”

“Sounds like an interesting life,” Ianto comments.

“Oh it was!” Jack assures him. “One of my favorite places was Malaysia. We stayed there for two months because the car broke down and we couldn’t fix it. Every time I taste coconut milk, I can only think of eating rendang and how much fun we had in there.”

“So why did you stop?” Ianto asks. 

Jack is a little quiet for a while. He twitches in the driver's seat, and his smile grows less fond and more forced. 

“You don’t have to answer that,” says Ianto quickly. Jack shakes his head, looking forward at the road. 

“I-” he cuts off. “They left me behind.”

“I’m sorry-”

“-It’s not your fault. We went back to London, and they left without me.”

“I know it’s not my fault but I’m sorry that happened to you,” Ianto says. He places his hand over Jack’s arm and squeezes it. and he smiles in response. 

“Anyway, I try to look on the positive side. If they never left me, I wouldn’t be here today. Who knows what might have happened?” Jack says. 

“I do,” Ianto jokes. “I wouldn’t have missed my train.” 

“Hey!”

It’s easy to talk to Jack, now that Ianto’s actively decided to self-realize and ignore whatever Jack makes him feel. He’s a great conversationalist - full of ridiculous stories that seem just realistic enough to be true. Regardless of his personal feelings, Ianto has no doubt that Jack is wonderful to his friends. He certainly praises them enough. Ianto’s heard more complementary things about Owen and Tosh in the last few hours than he’s ever heard about himself in his entire life. 

The sky is darkening to a deep blue shade when they pull up into the city of Rome. The streetlamps cast sharp shadows on the building surrounding them. Luckily for them, Gwen has Ianto’s list of hotels in her bag, and he knows which one they’ve probably selected. They park and exit the car, turning onto a road near the hotel. 

Gwen and Tosh are walking opposite them, close to the hotel, when Jack sees them. 

He waves them over, yelling at them to get their attention, and it works. Gwen and Tosh run over to where Ianto is getting out of the car. Gwen reaches him first, and she all but rams into him, crushing Ianto against her for an uncomfortably long hug. 

“Oh you’re ok! I thought I lost you!” she says, voice wavering. “Oh I was so worried!”

“She was,” says Tosh, hugging Jack briefly. “She wanted to get on the next train back to Paris, but I told her that Jack was with him, and he wouldn’t leave him stranded.”

“Gwen, you’re starting to crush my ribs,” Ianto prods her. She lets go of him reluctantly, but doesn’t let go of his hand. 

“Good thing that Jack was there,” says Gwen. Ianto looks at Jack with a suppressed smirk, and he turns his face, looking slightly guilty. 

“Yes, good thing that he was,” Ianto teases. “Dinner, anyone? I’m starving.”

Jack nods, and gives him a brilliant grin. Ianto smiles back demurely, but can’t help but feel a sense of glee for having put that expression onto his face. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos/Comments are appreciated!
> 
> Find me on tumblr [here](https://violetmessages.tumblr.com/)


	7. Prague/Berlin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess I forgot about this for a couple weeks. Soz. Please accept this slightly longer chapter as my apology.

The train ride to Prague is silent. Ianto naps through most of it, laying his head on Gwen’s shoulder while she quietly talks to Tosh and Owen. They’d apparently gotten way closer in the few days that he wasn’t there. Jack chimes in once in a while, but is also strangely silent. 

Rome was fun. Gwen had monopolized his time, saying that she was making up for leaving him in Paris. It wasn’t her fault, but she seemed to believe it was, so he let her hang on to him. 

While at the colosseum, Jack had made no less than twenty jokes about naked gladiators, even though Ianto kept reminding him that they weren’t actually naked. But more than that, he’d been extra polite throughout Rome, agreeing with Ianto about restaurants, talking directly to him far more, and even buying him gelato once. He assumed that this was Jack’s way of making up for stranding him in Paris - even if it was mostly unnecessary. He’d mostly forgiven him for that, especially after Jack had paid for the car and hadn’t asked him for any money. 

The train comes to a halt and Ianto lifts his head off Gwen’s shoulder. They have close to a day in Prague, and he’ll be damned if he can’t go to the coffee museum. He picks up his bags and walks out of the compartment, following Tosh out the train car. 

Breathing in the fresh air is wonderful after being in a train for most of the morning. He stretches, pulling his arms above him, exposing his midriff. He catches Jack looking and blushes. Jack winks at him and turns away. His face feels hot. 

“Right then, we’ve only got a little time here, so where are we off to?” asks Gwen, looking pensively at Ianto. 

“Well there’s a tour of historic churches that we could do,” Tosh offers. “There’s quite a few of them, and that should take most of the day.”

“Oh that sounds interesting!” Gwen beams. “Let’s do that then! Where do we have to go?”

“Uh, Gwen, I wanted to go to that coffee museum, remember?” Ianto cuts in awkwardly. “You said you’d go with me?”

“Oh, right!” Gwen says, looking a little sad. “Well, never mind then. You lot can go, and me and Ianto’ll go to the coffee museum instead.”

“Gwen, if you want to go to the church tour, I’ll go with Ianto,” Jack offers. His smile widens as Gwen looks at him suspiciously. “I’m interested in coffee.”

Gwen turns to Ianto, asking for permission. It’s not like would have said no - he’d never want to ruin Gwen’s fun. And spending time with Jack has started to be oddly pleasurable. The more time he spends with Jack, the more he feels jubilant inside. 

“Sure,” he says. “Go ahead. We’ll find you at dinner.” 

A few minutes of looking for directions and perfunctory goodbyes later, Ianto and Jack head out to the coffee museum. It’s a couple minutes away from where they are now, and they walk side by side silently. It’s a comfortable silence, completely different from a few days ago, when Ianto couldn’t even stand to be near him. 

“Who’s Lisa?” Jack asks, a few moments later, and Ianto chokes a little. He hasn’t had to talk about Lisa to anyone in two years, save for Gwen once or twice. In fact, he doesn’t even remember telling Jack about Lisa.

“What?” he asks. 

“Who’s Lisa? I heard you muttering her name in your sleep.”

“Uh,” he says, awkwardly. “My - my ex-girlfriend.”

Jack laughs. “You want her back, don’t you?”

“Well, seeing as she’s dead, I don’t exactly have a choice,” he says harshly, flushing red with anger. Jack stops smiling, and looks regretful. 

“I’m sorry,” he says. 

“Sorry that you brought it up?”

“No, I’m sorry that it happened. I know how hard it is to lose someone,” Jack says, smiling sadly.

“Who was it?” he asks, surprising himself. He’s not usually this forward with anyone. 

“My - my brother,” Jack says, looking wistful. “His name was Gray.”

“I’m sorry,” Ianto says. And he means it. After Lisa had passed, far too many people had offered him meaningless condolences and promises of a better future. He’d never believed most of them, they were just platitudes, bandaids stuck upon the gaping bullet wound that was his heart. 

It had scarred over slightly but the wound was still there underneath - even after two years of ignoring it.

He looked over at Jack, who was still wearing that sad smile, and gazed into his eyes. “Really, I mean it.”

“Thank you,” he nodded. “I didn’t mean to be insensitive. I guess I can come off that way, huh?”

Ianto shook his head. “No. You aren’t.”

“It was a pretty horrible move to leave you-”

“-you didn’t have to help me out.” Ianto cuts him off. “It  _ was  _ rude. But you helped me. You didn’t have to. Really, I don’t hold it against you.”

Jack smiles wider, the sadness in his eyes replaced by genuine relief. Ianto wonders why Jack had been relieved by his forgiveness. He’d never seemed to be the kind of person to be bothered by anyone’s opinion of them - whether good or bad. 

As they silently enter the museum, Ianto wonders what that means, why Jack seems to care about his opinion. 

“Well, here’s the museum,” Jack grins. “Ready?”

“Of course!”

* * *

“This is really good,” says Jack, as he crams what’s left of the coffee cake into his mouth. Ianto winces as he continues talking. “I didn’t know coffee could taste that good.”

“It was fine,” Ianto says, not as impressed. “I can make better coffee at home. They haven’t roasted it dark enough.”

“Oh yeah?”

“It’s passably good coffee, I suppose,” Ianto continues. “But, not up to the standard that this cafe should set.”

Jack looks amused at his ranting, resting his head sideways on his hand. His elbow balances precariously near his empty cup, and he tries to pull Ianto’s coffee cake near him. 

“Oi! What is it with you and stealing?” Ianto grumbles. Jack’s eyes twinkle as he pulls his hand back, clearly trying not to laugh. 

“Sorry,” he says, not sounding the slightest bit sorry. “When did you start loving coffee?”

“When I started to take exams,” Ianto jokes. Jack rolls his eyes, raising an eyebrow to ask the question again. “No, I actually worked in a coffee shop for a while.”

“Ah,” says Jack. “So the next time we get to a coffee machine, you have to make me the best coffee you can.”

“When did we decide this?” grins Ianto. 

“You have to prove yourself somehow. How else am I supposed to judge the Ianto Jones Coffee Experience without it?”

“I guess you’re out of luck,” Ianto says. “My coffee machine’s at home.”

“Ah, damn,” he says, shaking his head. “I guess I’ll just have to come over?”

“I guess you’ll have to,” Ianto trails off. Jack is grinning at him, like he can look directly through him and see exactly how he makes Ianto feel. Like a balloon has expanded in his chest.

Jack opens his mouth to answer, but Ianto never gets to hear what he says, mainly because Gwen wraps herself around him from the back. She sticks her head on his shoulder, her dark hair falling in his face. 

“Hey!” She says, releasing him after a moment. “How was the museum?”

“Good!” answers Ianto. He loves Gwen, but he can’t help but feel a little disappointed that she showed up. Then he feels guilty for feeling like that. Gwen is his best friend - he shouldn’t want to spend more time with an almost stranger, no matter how close they were getting, over someone he trusted more than anyone else. 

Gwen drops down onto the third chair at their table, and waves to Tosh and Owen, who are walking towards them slowly. 

“I got you something,” Gwen says to him. “A little pin. You’ll like it.”

“Thanks,” he responds, as Owen and Tosh approach. 

Owen pulls up a chair from a nearby table and slides onto it, arms folded. Tosh, who is too polite to take chairs from someone’s table, leans against Owen, dropping her bag onto his lap. 

“What’s next?” Owen asks. “How long’ve we got left here?”

“Ianto?” Gwen asks, turning to smile at him. Ianto fishes out his itinerary from his bag and unfolds it. 

“We’ve got three hours before we’ve got to be on the train to Berlin. We have a few days there, then we’re going back to London,” says Ianto. 

“Oh, not us,” Tosh says. “After Berlin, we’re spending a few days in Paris.”

“Oh,” Ianto says, inwardly disapointed. He assumed they’d be travelling back to London together. 

“Well I’m starving,” says Owen. “I vote that we find a restaurant. And find a pub for the rest of the time.”

The last few days of the trip are amazing. Ianto has always loved old architecture, and while Europe was full of old castles and churches, Berlin was the only place where he got to visit a lot of them. He’d thoroughly enjoyed himself. 

Jack and him spend another full day alone together, when Tosh and Gwen make a fuss about Berlin shopping malls, and drag Owen with them. Surprisingly, Owen doesn’t seem to make too much of a fuss, even though he complained about shopping centers for two hours of their train ride to Berlin. 

Ianto convinces Jack to go with him to the Pergamon Museum. Jack gives in after a few seconds of Ianto talking about it, which confuses him. However, he doesn’t let it show on his face, using Jack’s willingness to agree with him to his advantage. Ianto would be convinced that Jack is bored, except he keeps talking to Ianto about each exhibit, asking further questions about what they’re looking at. 

On the last day of the trip, Tosh surprises everyone by buying two disposable cameras. After taking an obscene amount of pictures near the Brandenburg gate, Tosh gifts one of them to Ianto and Gwen. The camera is currently sitting safely inside his bag, nestled carefully between his clothes to protect it. 

That evening, Gwen and Ianto walk Tosh, Owen, and Jack to their train to Paris. As they reach their stop, Gwen pulls in Tosh for a big hug. Tosh clings back just as hard. They embrace for a few moments, before Gwen lets go and pulls in Owen. 

“Oi!” he grumbles. But he hugs back for a moment without complaining. Then he pats Ianto’s shoulder affectionately, before picking up his bag off the floor. “All right, that's enough for me. When you birds are done hugging, come find me.”

And then he clambers up and disappears into the train car. Gwen smiles at Jack and holds out her arms. Jack pulls her into his arms, and lifts her off the ground for a second. 

“Bye Gwen,” he grins. “We’ll catch up later. Let me know when that boyfriend of yours finally proposes.”

“You know his name is Rhys!” Gwen teases. She wiggles her eyebrows at Tosh curiously, then turns to Ianto. 

“I’m going to get us some food - can you hold my bag?"

“Sure,” he says, frowning at her slightly. Why is she leaving now? 

Gwen turns and walks swiftly away, and Tosh smiles at him. She gestures at him, and he gets the message, hugging her for a moment. 

“Bye Ianto,” she says. “I had a lot of fun meeting you. We’ll meet again soon, okay?”

“Of course!” he smiles back. 

“Jack,” says Tosh. “I’m gonna go check on Owen. I’m sure he’s mixed up our seats again, and I better go sort that out.”

Tosh walks swiftly away. Jack looks a little confused, but it fades when he looks at Ianto. 

“So, I guess this is goodbye then?” Jack asks, smiling widely. Ianto smiles back, looking happy, but the lump in his throat seems to get larger. 

“Keep in touch?” he asks.

“Of course,” Jack exclaims. He rummages through his bag and pulls out a pen. Then he rips off the side of a pamphlet, balances it on his thigh, and scribbles something onto it. 

“Call me,” he says, and hands over the scrap of paper. Ianto pockets it, then he holds out his hand - hoping to be polite. Jack gives him a wry smile, shakes it, then brings Ianto in for a hug, crushing him against his chest. 

Ianto wraps his arms around Jack for just a moment, then he lets go. Jack gives him a wink, then picks up his bag and climbs onto the train. Once he’s climbed up, he turns to give Ianto one last wave, looking down from the train car. 

Ianto suddenly has the strongest urge to run up to Jack, to pull him in and kiss him, and to tell him to come back to Cardiff with him. He wants to grab onto Jack and press himself over Jack’s own, snogging the hell out of him. He wants to run his hands over Jack’s body and spend more time with him, learn more about the glimpses he’d gotten into Jack’s life. He wants to call out for him - to ask him to stay with him longer. 

He does none of those things. 

Instead, he waves back, lowering his hand as Jack turns into the train car and disappears. He watches as the train takes off after a minute, chugging slowly out of the station and getting smaller and smaller until he can’t see it anymore, only the trail of smoke left as a sign that it had once been there. Ianto can’t help but feel like he’s missed a chance at something more, and he pushes down the wistful feeling that it brings. He gulps, swallowing down the lump he could feel in his throat. 

Obviously nothing had happened, because nothing could ever happen. He’d had a fun trip, he’d met some new people, and now he was going to go back to his normal life. One which would get infinitely better in a few months, because he wouldn’t have to speak to his father after that. He didn’t deserve more than that, because that alone was more than he’d ever hoped for. 

He spots Gwen running up to him in his peripheral vision, and he turns to greet her. She carries a newspaper-wrapped fish and chips cone in each hand, and she gives one to him. He accepts it thankfully, looking at it instead of at Gwen’s face. 

“They left?” she asks, popping a chip into her mouth. Ianto nods in response, and she gives him a look.

“What?” he asked. 

“Well?”

“What?”

“What was going on between you and Jack?” she asks, eyes widening in delight. “I mean, you seem like you’re about to cry that he’s gone.”

“I am not!” he complains. She wiggles her eyebrows at him and he groans. “Really, there was nothing. I mean-”

“-what?”

“I - we may have snogged while drunk. But I never thought I was - you know what happened with Lisa,” he blurts out, rambling wildly. 

“Oh Ianto,” Gwen sighs. “What happened with Lisa was not your fault.”

“I was the one who convinced her to come with me. How is it not my fault?” he says, bitterly. “And anyway, I never thought that I could-”

“-like Jack like that?” Gwen finishes for him. “It’s not a bad thing.”

“I - I know it’s not, I just can’t,” he says, fiddling with the edge of the newspaper. “Besides, it’s not like he’d ever - you know - like me like that. I’m better off really.”

Gwen squints her eyes at him. “Are you serious?” 

“About what?” he asks. 

“Ianto, he was basically eye-fucking you the entire time! He spent the entire second half of the trip at your side! Hell, Tosh thought he was going to ask to switch rooms with me,” Gwen exclaimes. “How can you not see that?”

“Gwen-”

“-don’t you Gwen me! I have his number. When we get back to Cardiff, you call him!” she says. 

“I have his number,” Ianto says. 

“There you go!” she says, exuberantly. 

“But I’m not going to do anything,” he continues. “I - you know I can’t. Not after Lisa. Not after what happened.”

“Ianto, haven’t you spent enough time blaming yourself? No one could have seen that car coming, least of all you.” Gwen sighs. She rubbed his shoulder, smiling at him encouragingly. “This is the first person you have genuinely liked in two years. Don’t you think it’s worth it to yourself to try?”

“I don’t think I can,” he says, pushing down his emotions and biting into a chip instead. “I just can’t.”

Gwen sighs, shaking her head. “I still think it’s a good idea. But obviously I can’t force you to do anything. Just - I’m here for you Ianto. Don’t push me away because you think you can handle everything by yourself.”

“I won’t,” he lies. “Thanks, Gwen.”

He wouldn’t tell her, even if Jack called him somehow. His problems weren’t Gwen’s problems. She didn’t need to worry about him more, she already did far too much. She deserved a better friend than him - one that wouldn’t be paralyzed at the thought of moving on. Besides, it wasn’t a problem after all. It’s not like he’d ever be seeing Jack again. 

Gwen crumples up the newspaper in her hands and stands up, brushing the front of her thighs. “Come on then, our train’s about to leave.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos/Comments are appreciated!
> 
> Find me on tumblr [here](https://violetmessages.tumblr.com/)


	8. Cardiff I

_**Three months later** _

“We did it!” Gwen says exuberantly, leaning her head on his shoulder, and he gives her back the biggest smile he can fit on his face. On Gwen’s left is Rhys, who reaches out behind her to pat him roughly on the back. His grin hasn’t left his face since the morning. All three of them are clad in their black graduation gowns, clutching rolled up diplomas in their hands. Ianto’s cup is tucked under one shoulder like Rhys, and Gwen’s is perched jauntily on her head, black hair underneath shifting in the slight breeze. All three of them are strolling across the front of their university, walking leisurely to their flat. 

“Your parents gone home then?” Ianto asks them. 

“Yup,” Rhys says. “I said I’d get dinner with them tomorrow, but I promised Gwen we’d go out tonight.” He shares a conspiratorial look with Ianto, which Gwen doesn’t notice.

“I expected mine to make more of a fuss, but they just said they’d let me spend time with Rhys. I wonder why,” Gwen rambles, still unaware of the looks Rhys and Ianto are exchanging. They amble past the university and onto the road leading to their flat. 

No one bothered to come for Ianto, his Dad didn’t even acknowledge that he was graduating, and Rhiannon had promised but fell through. He didn’t fault her for that though - David had a slight fever and he didn’t want his nephew to get sicker because of him. But Gwen and Rhys’ parents, and especially Gwen and Rhys, who he suspected felt sorry for him, had made enough of a fuss that he didn’t mind too much. 

As they entered their flat, Rhys pulled Gwen towards him to leisurely snog, blocking Ianto from moving inside. 

“Oi,” he complained, slightly pushing the two of them. Gwen pulled away with a smirk and barreled into him, hugging fiercely. He hugged back, knowing how tactile Gwen was. 

“Oh, I’m just so happy today,” she cried. 

“Don’t forget, we need to leave in an hour, sharp. Otherwise we’ll lose the reservations,” Rhys reminded Gwen after a few seconds. She let go, pressing a kiss to his cheek. 

“Stop worrying, I won’t be late,” she called out as she ran to her room. Ianto turned to Rhys and gave him a smirk. 

“Tenner she’s late,” he winked. Rhys laughed, patting him on the shoulder. 

“I’m not taking odds on that,” he joked. “Anyway, gives us more time to prepare.”

“Well, you’ve got all the supplies, and so have I,” says Ianto. He opens up a nearby drawer, pulling out a small disposable camera. This is all he’ll need for what’s going to happen. 

He waits patiently for the next hour. Rhys and Gwen have disappeared into their bedroom and bathroom respectively, off to get dressed and ready for their dinner. Ianto takes the time to make himself a small meal, putting on the kettle. He pours the boiling water into a bowl of instant noodles and mixes it in with the flavor packets that come with it. 

Eating, he looks up at the refrigerator and smiles, fondly. Pasted onto it are dozens of pictures - him and Gwen, him and Rhys, Rhys and Gwen. Pictures of the three of them out with their more casual friends at Uni, and also pictures of them on their recent trip. Tosh, Owen and him all posed near the Brandenburg gate, Gwen and Jack smiling widely in front of a fountain, the five of them all together, and finally - one with just him and Jack, arms over each other's shoulders. Both of them are mid-laugh, and he remembers the moment fondly. Owen had made a ridiculous joke about a woman nearby, and all of them couldn’t stop laughing. 

He feels a pang of something - guilt, remorse perhaps. The slip of paper with Jack’s number is still on his bedside, never having been used. He couldn’t bring himself to dial the number, even for a friendly chat. The more he’d thought about it, the harder it had gotten. 

He’d thought that being away from Jack would help him. That it would show that Jack was a two week crush, a small holiday longing brought on by proximity and forced closeness. That hasn't exactly been the case. Ianto finds himself thinking about Jack constantly - imagining how he might have reacted to something someone said, or laughed at a joke someone made. 

As he finishes his rapidly cooling noodles, he shakes himself out of his funk. It’s showtime - today is when the thing him and Rhys have been talking about for months happens. As soon as he places his empty bowl in the sink, Rhys emerges from the bedroom, sporting a black suit and holding a tie in his hand. 

“Blasted thing won’t tie properly,” he complains when he sees Ianto. Snorting, Ianto gets up and holds out his hand. 

“That’s what you’ve got me for, right?” he jokes, lacing up the tie and pulling it taut to Rhys’ neck. “You have it?”

“Yup,” he nods. The two of them turn when Gwen walks out of the bathroom, shoving something into her small black purse. 

“Hello, lovely,” Rhys beams at her. 

“How do I look?” Gwen asks, smiling back and doing a little turn, hands high in the air. She’s clad in a red dress that clings to her, dropping down to her knees. The front is covered in some see through lace material that extends to her wrists, and she’s wearing similarly colored contraptions on her feet which make Ianto wonder how she’s managing to walk at all with heels that high. 

“Absolutely gorgeous,” says Rhys, pulling her towards him to kiss. Gwen steps back, giggling slightly, and looks at Ianto expectantly. 

“You look lovely,” he smiles, and she wraps him in another hug. 

“Alright then, let’s get on,” says Gwen, and turns to the door. Rhys smiles at him, looking a bit nervous, and Ianto gives him a thumbs up, mouthing the words  _ good luck _ . 

Then Rhys walks with Gwen and he’s alone in the apartment. 

He gives them a few minutes before he grabs his camera and jacket and runs out the door. Walking briskly, he makes it to the small restaurant with no sign of Gwen or Rhys yet. Ianto hides behind a small alleyway, eyes alert for any sign of them. The restaurant lights twinkle, little edison bulbs flickering against the growing darkness. The sky is pink and orange when they arrive. Gwen and Rhys hold hands and walk towards him, and Ianto holds his camera up steady. He’s picked a good spot, they’re angled in a way that Ianto can see both their side profiles

Rhys pulls Gwen to the front of the restaurant, and smiles at her. He talks for a minute, Gwen clearly confused, before kneeling down and extracting a box from inside his suit. 

Ianto starts clicking the camera. 

As soon as he kneels down, Gwen seems to be in shock, raising her hands to her mouth. Rhys talks for another few moments before Ianto makes out the words,  _ Gwen will you marry me, _ and Gwen’s shrieked  _ yes  _ in response. Clicking the camera a few more times as Rhys slides on the ring, gets to his feet, and is pulled into a deep kiss by Gwen, Ianto finally puts it down and approaches them. 

“Congratulations,” he beams at the two of them, and Gwen startles, clearly not expecting Ianto to be there. He holds out the camera to Rhys. “Now you have the whole thing caught on film.”

“You were in on it the whole time,” exclaims Gwen, looking a little teary-eyed. “Oh Ianto!” 

“Yup,” Rhys says, looking equally teary-eyed. “I wanted us to have a record of it.”

“Is this why Mum and Dad didn’t argue about having dinner?” Gwen asks, Rhys nods and she pulls the both of them in for a group hug. After releasing them, Ianto sees a tear drip down her face, which she quickly wipes away. 

“Well, I’ll let you get on with your celebratory dinner then,” Ianto says, giving Gwen a quick peck on the cheek. “See you at home.”

“Oh god, I just realized how much fighting our parents are going to do,” Gwen blurts out, looking horrified. “Oh, we are definitely eloping!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jack will show up in the next chapter, I promise! Thank you for reading! Kudos/Comments are appreciated!
> 
> Find me on tumblr [here](https://violetmessages.tumblr.com/)


	9. London III

“But Mum I can’t-” Gwen yells into the phone. “Well, Brenda, I don’t think that’s-”

She cuts off again, glaring down at her paper, which is filled with incomprehensible scribbles. After a few moments, Gwen ends the call angrily, slamming the landline down with a bang. She groans, laying her head between her hands. Rhys, who is sitting next to her, pats her shoulder reassuringly. 

Gwen mumbles furiously into her hands. Ianto and Rhys, knowing the signs of an imminent Gwen breakdown, spur into action, Ianto getting her a glass of water and Rhys pulling her into a hug, resting her head onto his shoulder. 

“We’re eloping,” Gwen says. “I don’t what Mum or Brenda say - I cannot plan a wedding with the two of them. Especially on conference call with the both of them!”

“That’s fine,” Rhys says, rubbing her back. “I don’t want a big wedding. I just want you, that’s all I need.” He kisses the top of her head and Ianto smiles at the sight. 

“Wait,” Gwen says, lifting her head and staring into Rhys’ eyes. “What if we did it now?”

“What?”

“Think about it,” says Gwen, eyes wide with excitement. “We don’t need anything fancy - I just want to be married to you. So why wait? Let’s get married this weekend.”

“But you don’t even have a dress, we don’t-”

“-I don’t need a dress. I just need you.” Gwen says, and Rhys melts, pulling her to kiss furiously. After a moment, Ianto coughs, and they pull apart, completely unashamed. 

“Congratulations,” Ianto smiles. “You should get married somewhere special, don’t just stay in Cardiff. Elope somewhere fun.”

“We could take the train up to London. That’s where I first told you I loved you - even if it is in England,” says Rhys, grinning. Gwen nods with gleaming eyes, kissing him again furiously. It takes a few more minutes, for them to pull away, and by then Ianto has stopped paying attention and is looking through the refrigerator for something to eat. 

“Come on, we’d better get packing,” Gwen says. “We can get on the train today and be married by tonight!”

“Yeah,” Rhys says. “Look all we probably need is a change of clothes and something fancy - it shouldn’t take us too long.”

They turn to look at Ianto, who doesn’t notice at first. Gwen clears her throat and he looks up at them. 

“Ianto, what are you doing,” Gwen asks. Ianto raises his eyebrows in confusion. 

“Looking for something to eat? Why?”

“Well, you have to pack too - we need to leave as soon as possible,” Rhys explains, sounding confused. 

“Didn’t you hear, we’re eloping,” Gwen says pointedly. 

“Why that’s very sweet but you haven’t exactly bought me a ring and I think Rhys might feel a little put off if his fiancée elopes with someone else,” he snarks. Do they want him to come with them? Gwen rolls her eyes. 

“Well we can’t exactly get married without our flower boy there, can we?” she says sarcastically. “Don’t be ridiculous Ianto, of course you’re coming.”

“I resent that,” he said, rolling his eyes. “After playing third wheel for four years, I don’t even get to be some kind of best man?”

Gwen rolled her eyes. “Shut up and get going.”

“Yes ma’am,” they chorus, and Ianto walks briskly to his bedroom, pulling out a backpack. He quickly folds and shoves in a change of clothes - just in case. Then he takes out a pair of dress pants and a red shirt from his closet and folds them neatly, not wanting them to get wrinkled. Grabbing a small pouch, he tosses a few toiletries haphazardly into it, chucking it into his backpack when he’s done. 

He’s thrilled to be going with them. He is their best mate, but he’d assumed that Gwen and Rhys wanted to get married on their own - not have him around. He sits at the table, waiting for the two of them to finish packing. 

Thirty minutes later, they’re at the train station. Gwen goes off to buy tickets for the three of them, and Rhys and Ianto go off to find some food. When they return to the plastic bench they were sitting on, holding a few newspaper cones of chips, they spot Gwen, who holds up three tickets and waves at them. 

“Train leaves in thirty minutes,” she says, grabbing a cone from Rhys. “Earliest I could find.”

“We’ll get there at three-thirty then?” Rhys says. “Well, I suppose that’s enough time.”

“Course it is,” Ianto says, encouraging them. “Then you two can stay in a hotel for your honeymoon, and I can get back to Cardiff by nighttime.”

“Oh, honeymoon,” Gwen says, as if she’s forgotten what that is. “We didn’t even think about that.”

“Yeah,” says Rhys, shaking his head. “We were just thought you were going to stay with us overnight and travel back in the morning,”

“Oh, well I could I suppose,” Ianto says. He probably should be watching his finances, given that he’s just gone on a vacation - even if he didn’t spend most of the money himself. But he’s got a new job lined up, and his friends are hopefully only going to get married once and he doesn’t want to miss it. 

As Ianto eats his chips and waits for the train, Gwen and Rhys discuss how to break the news that they eloped to their parents. Privately, Ianto thinks they’d be better off just not telling them. He’s heard the ‘conversations’ they’ve had with each other. Gwen’s mother and Rhys’ mother despise each other, and learning their children had gotten married without them would probably send them both into a frenzy. 

They play cheat and rummy on the train. Gwen and Rhys shut down Ianto’s suggestion to play poker - they both know he can count cards, but Ianto still wins a few games. The two hours pass quickly and before they know it, they’re in London. They pick up their bags and walk out of the train, but as Rhys steps down, he trips. 

“Shite,” he yells as he falls, pant tearing at the leg. Gwen and Ianto rush to pull him up, but he’s bleeding from one of his legs. “Ouch!”

“How bad does it hurt, darling?” Gwen asks frantically, pulling up the leg of his jeans to inspect the wound. It’s deep, and he’s bleeding quite fast. 

“Pretty fucking bad,” Rhys responds, gritting his teeth. Ianto looks at Gwen, worried. Her face is drawn into a grimace. 

“Perhaps you should go to a hospital,” a passerby says, worried. “That wound looks pretty deep, and there’s one close to here.”

“Yeah,” Ianto says. “I think we should.” 

The man gives them directions and the three of them hobble to the hospital together. It’s not far, and when they enter, they’re directed to a waiting room. A nurse calls the three of them in and to Ianto’s surprise, Owen walks in. 

“Gwen, Ianto?” Owen asks. “What are you two doing here?”

“Visiting,” Gwen says. “This is Rhys, my boyfriend - fiancé.” She points to him. 

“Fiancé?” Owen says, surprised. Gwen nods, smiling widely, and he returns it. 

“We got engaged,” Gwen says enthusiastically, holding up her left hand. 

“Congratulations. Right, first let me take a look at that, and then we can talk,” Owen says, raising Rhys’ leg and examining it. “It needs a few stitches, but that shouldn’t take long at all.”

Owen wipes down the wound and starts to stitch. “Nice to meet you,” he says. “Gwen talked a lot about you on the trip we went on in April.”

“Yeah, Owen right?” Rhys says, grimacing at the pain. “Gwen’s told me about you as well.”

“So you two got engaged? When was that?” Owen asks. 

“Yesterday,” Ianto smirks. “And they’re getting married today.”

“What?” Owen asks, looking amused. “A one day engagement?”

“Well, we just wanted to get married,” said Gwen, smiling. “Sometimes, you just know.”

Owen pretends to retch, and Gwen smacks him. “Oi! I’m stitching up your husband here, calm down!”

“Wait,” Gwen says, sounding like she’s planning something. “Why don’t you, Tosh, and Jack come to our wedding?”

“Us? Well, Tosh would want to do that. And I bet Jack wants to see Romeo over there,” Owen responds, tilting his head towards Ianto. 

“What?” Ianto asks. Owen gives Gwen an incredulous look and she rolls her eyes. 

“Really?” Owen asks, looking amused. Gwen shakes his head, and Ianto looks at them both curiously.

“Well anyways, let’s do it!” Gwen says. “We’ll get married with the four of you there.”

“Not yet,” says Owen. “I don’t get off work until six. Why don’t the three of you head to me and Jack's flat. Tosh should be there anyway.”

Owen finishes stitching up Rhys and gives them his address. They walk to his flat, following a map of London that Gwen nicked from the train station. As they ring the doorbell, Ianto gulps down the lump in his throat. He’s about to see Jack Harkness again for the first time in months. 

And deep down, he’s secretly excited. 

Tosh opens the door and when she sees them, her smile grows wide. She leaps at Gwen, giving her a big hug, then turns to Ianto to do the same. 

“What are you doing here?” She asks, grinning. 

“Well, we ran into Owen at the hospital, and we have some news,” Gwen says, holding up her left hand. “This is Rhys, and we’re going to get married today.”

“Oh, Gwen,” says Tosh excitedly. “I’m so happy for you!”

“And we have a story for you,” Gwen says. Tosh smiles at Rhys, shaking his hand. 

“Oh, it’s so nice to meet you, Rhys,” she says. “Come in, come in. Jack’s gone to pick up a few snacks, but he’ll be back in a bit.”

They walk inside, following Tosh and sitting down next to her on Jack and Owen’s sofa. Gwen immediately starts to explain what’s happening to Tosh, with Rhys chiming in here and there. Ianto tunes it out, instead looking around at Jack and Owen’s flat. 

It’s a little bigger than his own, but not by much. It’s nicely decorated, in shades of grey and blue, with a television in the corner, and a few plants near the window. There’s no division between the living room and the kitchen, which sports a sink of dirty dishes. There’s a laundry basket by the door, and on the coat stand hangs Jack’s long blue coat. Ianto smiles at it, remembering how ridiculous he thought it was when he first saw it. 

The sound of the door unlocking shakes Ianto out of his thoughts. He stares up at the door as it opens, and Jack walks in, holding a bag in his hand. 

“Hey,” he says, grinning widely, and whatever emotions Ianto’s felt on the trip come flying back, hitting him in the chest. Jack beams at him, wide and open, and Ianto smiles back. It’s like he’s back in Valais, or Rome, or Berlin. 

“Hey, Jack,” he says, and the look on his face makes Ianto wish he’d never left the train without him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos/Comments are appreciated!
> 
> Find me on tumblr [here](https://violetmessages.tumblr.com/)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally did it! Thank you to everyone who's been reading alone, I know that I didn't always have the best upload schedule and I kinda forgot about it for a few weeks but if you've stuck along, I'm so grateful! This was the second torchwood fic I ever started, and the longest one I've written so far! I hope it's a satisfying ending! Enjoy!

Jack is exactly the way Ianto remembered him - loud, exuberant, and simply sparkling with energy. After learning that Gwen had gotten engaged, he lifted her and spun her around in a huge hug, then proceeded to do the same to a blindsided Rhys. He’s cheerful and friendly and sweet, asking both Gwen and Rhys every detail of their engagement and impending impromptu wedding. 

“Well, you should just wait until tomorrow,” says Jack. “That way Gwen can go get a new dress and have her hen do with Tosh, and the four of us can have Rhys’ stag do tonight.”

“Well, we were just going to stay for one night,” says Rhys. “We’ve only got the funds for one night-”

“Nonsense!” Jack exclaims, cutting Rhys off. “You and Ianto can stay here, and Gwen can stay with Tosh.”

“Oh, course,” Tosh says, smiling at them. “You’re always welcome. Besides, you’re only getting married once; don’t you want a nice dress and a hen do?”

“We don’t have enough people for a stag or a hen do,” says Gwen, but Ianto can tell that she’s tempted. Gwen looks over at Rhys, and they silently debate with each other. 

“Alright,” says Rhys. “But Gwen is right - we don’t have enough people for a proper stag or hen do.”

“Well, we’ll just have a combined one then!” Jack declares, putting his arm around Ianto and leaning against him. He shifts himself, suddenly uncomfortably aware of all his limbs. Jack is a warm block next to him, solid and unyielding, and Ianto carefully leans an arm behind Jack. 

“Shall we go shopping now?” asks Tosh, smiling at Gwen. “We can be back by the time Owen gets home?”

Gwen exchanges an excited look with Rhys, then nods at Tosh enthusiastically. “Oh, I’m so excited!” she proclaims, getting to her feet and extending a hand out to Tosh, pulling her up. “Where should we start first?”

“There are a few stores that I really like,” says Tosh as the two of them walk to the door. She grabs their jackets off the stand, and the two of them disappear out the door, arm in arm. 

“So.” Jack smirks at him and Rhys. “Whatever shall we do with our free time?”

“Actually, would you mind if I laid down for a bit?” asks Rhys. “Sorry, it’s just, the fall took it a bit out of me, and I want to rest before tonight.”

“Of course!” Jack says, smiling at him. “Here, I’ll help you to my room.”

Ianto holds out a hand, attempting to help Rhys get up, but he refuses it, getting up by himself. 

“I’m fine; I don’t need to be escorted or anything,” he explains after Ianto raises an eyebrow at him. “I just want to lie down for a bit.”

“Bedroom is just this way,” says Jack, pointing down at the small hallway to his left. “It’s the one on the right.”

“Thanks,” Rhys smiles, and walks to it. Ianto keeps a steady eye on him, making sure he doesn’t fall, and only after he enters the room, does he look back at Jack, who is staring at him with an odd expression. 

“Ianto Jones,” Jack finally says. “Alone at last.”

“Yeah.” He smiles back. 

“How have you been?”

“Good,” he responds out of habit. “What about you?”

“I’ve been great,” Jack says. “Gotten some good news too.”

“That’s great,” Ianto says, grinning. “What is it?”

“Well, I wanted to tell you immediately after getting it, but I didn’t have your number, did I?”

“Oh-”

“-but you had mine. And you never called,” says Jack, sounding a little offended but looking at him intensely. To his surprise, Ianto doesn’t look away, nor does he want to. 

“Lost your number,” he lies. He’s not exactly sure how to explain the entirety of his very complicated feelings to Jack, not to mention how mortified he’d be if Jack ever found out about them. How does he explain that he desperately wanted to call him, how he felt more strongly about him than he had about anyone in years?

How he’d convinced himself out of calling him, not because he didn’t want to but because he was afraid of what he’d do when he did?

“I hope you didn’t lose it on purpose?” Jack teases, a playful smile on his face but an odd sincerity to his actions. “I mean, I can handle rejection, but-”

“-I didn’t,” Ianto lies again. 

“Would you have called?”

“Yes,” responds Ianto, almost immediately.  _ Why are you saying this?  _ he thinks to himself. Another part of him that he doesn't want to acknowledge tells him the truth. 

_ Because you want to.  _

Jack’s smile gets wider, and he places his hand back where it was before, close to Ianto’s own. He leans in closer and looks straight at Ianto. They’re very close, close enough that Ianto can feel Jack breathing, close enough that all he has to do is lean forwards a scant few inches and they’d be kissing. Ianto stares at Jack, stares into his eyes, and breathes in. It’s like he’s in a trance, like he’s frozen to the spot. Ianto thinks that he’s seconds away from reaching for Jack and snogging him senseless. 

Then, he hears the sound of keys opening the front door, and the spell is broken. He scoots a bit away, and Jack smiles politely at him, clearly aware that the moment is over. 

Ianto doesn’t know if he’s relieved or disappointed. 

The door opens, and Owen walks in, looking grumbly as usual, but Ianto ignores that and smiles warmly at him. 

“Hey, Owen,” Jack says. “Gwen and Rhys are going to get married in the morning, and we’re having a combined stag and hen do tonight.”

“Joy of joys,” he deadpans. “And I’m guessing you volunteered our flat for them to stay in?”

“Well, Gwen will be staying with Tosh,” Jack says, unbothered. “It’s bad luck to sleep with the groom on the night before the wedding.”

“I think you’ve got that wrong,” Ianto says, laughing slightly. “Anyways, I’m sure there are some people who would say it’s bad luck to sleep with the groom before the wedding, but that ship has already sailed.”

“And are  _ you  _ one of those people?” Jack asks, raising an eyebrow at Ianto, smiling cheekily. 

“Do I look like one of those people?” Ianto responds back. “The answer is no, by the way.”

“That’s good to know,” says Jack, still smiling at him. Ianto doesn’t feel inclined to look away, and apparently, neither does Jack, because he doesn’t. 

Then Owen clears his throat, and Ianto turns to him, rolling his eyes. “If you two birds are done snogging, can you decide what we’re going to do for the night? I don’t think Mr. Groom is going to be up for clubbing tonight; he’s got a nasty cut on his leg.”

“Of course,” Jack assures him. “I’m thinking something light, maybe a combination of drinking and board games?”

“Whatever,” says Owen. “I’m going to order us pizza; I’m starving. Figure it out!”

Owen rolls his eyes again and walks over to the kitchen, where a landline is hanging from the wall. He picks it up and dials a number - apparently, he knows the pizza place’s number by heart. 

“So, what do you think?” comes Jack’s voice, pulling him out of idly watching Owen. “Combination drinking and board games?”

“Wasn’t it your idea to play a drinking game in Valais?” Ianto teases him. “What is it with you and playing games meant for teenagers?”

“I’m young at heart!” Jack defends himself. “Besides, was that a yes or no?”

“Do you remember what happened in Valais?” asks Ianto, voice cheeky. 

“Well, as I remember, we had a great time in Valais,” says Jack, suddenly going serious.

Ianto remembers exactly what happened in Valais - how could he forget? However, Jack said he didn’t remember what happened that night; obviously, that was why he still thought of Valais in a good mood. If he actually remembered what happened, he’d probably not be so kind. After all, who’d want to kiss Ianto and still remember it fondly?

“Ianto?” asks Jack, concerned. “Is - Is everything alright?”

“Of course it is,” Ianto lies. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“I don’t regret any of it,” says Jack, seemingly out of the blue. “That night in Valais - I really don’t. Even though you never called me.”

Then he smiles before getting up to go talk to Owen, leaving Ianto absolutely stunned on the couch. He doesn’t think he has the emotional capability to do anything. Jack knows - he knew the  _ entire  _ time. 

And he didn’t regret it?

The man he’s been entirely sure will reject him and any advances he could make is the same man who doesn’t regret drunkenly snogging the living daylights out of Ianto. Jack doesn’t regret it; he apparently doesn’t regret anything. Which means that Jack-

He doesn’t finish the thought. 

Instead, he goes to check up on Rhys, who is lying on the bed, flipping idly through a magazine. Seeing him, Rhys sits up and offers him a smile. 

“Hey,” he says, “Do you know what we’re having for dinner?”

“Pizza,” Ianto replies. “Jack wants us to play a drinking game.”

“As long as it’s not something stupid like spin the bottle,” Rhys jokes. “I’m not a teenager anymore.”

“Yeah,” says Ianto, sighing. 

“Is everything alright?” asks Rhys, looking concerned. Ianto nods his head eagerly.

“Of course!” He smiles at him. It’s Rhys’ day, both today and tomorrow - he’s not going to ruin it for him. And really, barring the earth-shattering news that Jack had dropped on him without warning, he’s great. 

“I don’t think you are,” says Rhys. “And don’t bother trying to convince me otherwise.”

“I’m fine-”

“-you don’t have to tell me,” Rhys interrupts. “Not until you’re ready to. But you know that Gwen and I are always here, right?”

“I know,” says Ianto. “You don’t have to remind me.”

“You’re my best mate,” says Rhys. “I know Gwen wants to poach you to be her best man too, but you’d have been mine.”

“I thought I was your flower boy,” Ianto jokes.

“You are,” Rhys plays along. “But seriously, we are always here for you.”

“Getting sentimental on your stag do?”

“I mean it,” Rhys says, looking incredibly serious. “Now, enough of this. Come help me up; I want to give that pizza a go.”

* * *

At around one, Gwen and Tosh stumble out of Jack and Owen’s flat, Gwen very drunk and Tosh a little tipsy. Owen, who is the most sober out of all of them, volunteers to walk with the two of them back to Tosh’s flat and stay there, so that they have enough beds for everyone. Rhys stumbles to Owen’s room right after, and both Jack and Ianto are left alone together, once again. 

Ianto is ready to sleep on the couch, but when he offers this to Jack, he puts on a disgusted expression that makes Ianto laugh. 

“Don’t be stupid,” Jack says, slurring slighly. “We’ll share.”

“Are you sure?” he asks. 

“Of course I am,” he says firmly. “Besides, we’ve done it before. Come on.”

They lean against each other and walk blindly to Jack’s room in the dark, feeling alongside the walls to guide their way. Jack holds him close, his hand clutching Ianto tightly to him, and when they finally reach his room, he doesn’t let go. 

They fumble to the bed, and Ianto flops on, scooting over to make room for Jack, who instead pulls off his shirt. As he goes to unbutton his pants, Ianto clears his throat, and Jack stops. Even from the faint moonlight coming out the window, Ianto can tell that Jack is amused. 

“Fine,” he whispers, then climbs onto the bed next to him. 

“What was your good news?” Ianto asks, curiously. “The one you were going to tell me about.”

Jack laughs and turns to face Ianto. They’re as close as they were on the couch a few hours earlier, and Ianto realizes  _ again _ that all he has to do is lean forwards and they’d be kissing. 

“I got offered a job,” he says. “In Cardiff.”

“Oh,” Ianto breathes out. “That’s great,”

“I wanted to call my favorite person from Cardiff to tell me about the city,” Jack continues. “So that I could decide whether or not I wanted to accept it.”

“Your favorite person from Cardiff?”

“Well, I didn’t exactly have his number, and seeing as he apparently lost mine, I couldn’t,” Jack says. “I haven’t made a decision yet.”

“You meant me?” Ianto asks, a little stupidly. He must be drunker than he expected.

“Yes.” Jack laughs. “I did mean you.”

“Oh.”

“Is that a good oh?”

“Yeah.”

Jack doesn’t respond; instead, he reaches out and trails a finger down Ianto’s nose, tracing down to his cupid’s bow and stopping just before he touches Ianto’s lips. Ianto takes a deep breath in, staring straight at Jack. It’s just like that night in Valais. Which apparently both of them know about. All Ianto has to do is lean forwards. 

But he never gets that chance.

“Good night,” Jack whispers. He removes his hand and flips over, and all Ianto is left with it is the sight of Jack’s back. 

* * *

Gwen and Rhys are in front of the four of them, clasping hands tightly, and the rest of them surround them in a small semicircle in the small beige room they’d been directed to in the Register Office. Apparently Gwen had won whatever bet she had with Rhys, because at the start of the ceremony, she’d pulled him to stand by her. 

It’s not what Ianto would have thought either of them would like, but surprisingly neither one had forged any complaints. Perhaps the lack of Brenda Williams and Mary Cooper was worth it to both of them. 

The officiant, a short black woman, stands in front of them, reading from a binder. As Rhys recites his vows, Gwen looks at him adoringly. She’s wearing a new dress, one that her and Tosh had bought last night. It’s a deep purple - untraditional - but Gwen has never been a traditional person. Ianto’s never been more happier for her. 

“I call upon these persons here present to witness that I, Gwen Elizabeth Cooper, do take thee, Rhys Alun Williams to be my lawfully wedded husband,” says Gwen, wearing the biggest smile he’s ever seen on her. 

They don’t have rings - neither one had bothered to buy them, so instead Gwen wraps her hands around his neck and pulls him in to kiss. Rhys holds her waist and the two of them kiss for a few minutes. 

Ianto smiles widely and starts to clap, thrilled that his two best friends have finally married. The two of them kiss for a few moments, then let go stare into each other's eyes, still holding each other close, grinning wildly. 

“Congratulations,” says the officiant. 

“Thank you,” giggles Gwen before turning to smile at the four of them. Holding out her arms, she gives Tosh a big hug before moving to Jack.

“Congratulations,” says Ianto, smiling at Rhys. He gives him a quick hug, patting him firmly on the back, before he’d replaced by Gwen, who all but tackles him. 

“I love you,” Gwen whispers in his ear before kissing his cheek. “Stay out of trouble when you go home, you hear?”

“Me? Get into trouble?” he jokes. “Have fun on your honeymoon.”

“Oh, I will.” Gwen grins wickedly. “Don’t you worry about that.”

Ianto rolls his eyes, and she laughs, hitting him once on the arm before finally letting him go. 

“It was great to see you again,” he says to Tosh, Owen, and Jack. 

In the morning, he’d discussed it with Gwen and Rhys. As much as he loved them, they needed a honeymoon, and he’s not going to be part of it. Ianto shares a wall with the two of them - he spends enough time being their third wheel and they deserve a honeymoon without him. As much as he loves Tosh and Owen, he doesn’t want to keep sleeping on their couch and taking advantage of their generosity, and he can’t afford a hotel room. 

And then there’s Jack.

“We’ll meet again soon,” says Tosh, wrapping him in a hug. “This time we’ll plan something properly.”

“Of course,” says Ianto. “We will.”

“Come here, mate,” Owen says, rolling his eyes. He hugs Ianto briefly, patting him on the back. “Have a safe trip home.”

“Bye, Owen.” Ianto laughs. Then he turns to Jack - probably the hardest goodbye. 

“I’ll walk you to the station,” Jack offers, and Ianto nods. 

“See you in a bit,” says Rhys. 

“Of course,” responds Ianto. Picking up his backpack, he nods to Jack, and the two of them head to the train station. 

They walk in silence. The station isn’t too far, and Ianto enjoys the crisp air and Jack’s company. When they reach the platform, Jack turns to him and smiles. 

“So,” Jack says. 

“So,” he responds, smiling back. 

“So, if I give you my number, will you lose it again?” Jack asks. His voice is light, like he’s teasing, but he’s staring into Ianto’s eyes seriously. 

“I-” Ianto starts to say, then cuts off. 

He suddenly realizes that this is the exact same situation that he was in a few months ago back in Berlin. He and Jack are saying goodbye again, Jack is offering his number again, and Ianto is-

No. 

He doesn’t want to repeat it again. He doesn’t want to let Jack go again. For the past few months, all Ianto has wanted is Jack. And now Jack is in front of him. Again. 

Taking a deep breath, he makes up his mind and pulls Jack with him to an abandoned corner, away from everyone else’s eyesight. Jack looks at him curiously, and he shakes his head. 

“I like you,” he blurts out. “I like you - like that.”

“You like me?” Jack asks.

“I like you,” Ianto repeats. “And I think you should take the job in Cardiff.” 

“I-”

“I know that I haven’t exactly been - clear,” Ianto interrupts him. “But I do. And even if you don’t-”

“What makes you think I don’t?” asks Jack, laughing at him. “What have I done that makes you think I’m not interested?”

“So?” Ianto asks. 

“Yes,” says Jack, eyes sparkling. “Can I kiss you now? While we’re not drunk this time?”

Ianto doesn’t bother to respond. Instead, he places his hands on Jack’s shoulders and simply leans forwards. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos/Comments are appreciated!
> 
> Find me on tumblr [here](https://violetmessages.tumblr.com/)


End file.
